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I am trying to set up WinKawaks within GameEx. From searches on the forum, I saw that NoLogic created a loader and special config to assist with this and posted it in the forum. However, the file(s) he attached have seem to disappeared from his post. Does anyone still have these lying around?

Is there a way to compile the MAMEUI32 with the hiscores code or only MAME?

I have been an avid gamer for decades. I distinctly remember playing my first video game, a tabletop version of Pong, when I was 6. Since then, I have played, literally, hundreds of arcade machines in dimly lite arcades, malls, laundromats, and restaurant back rooms, everywhere. A few years back, I ran across the wondrous MAME emulator, which allowed me to relive all those games that I played from childhood through my college years. The emulator, itself, is fantastic, but the user interface is somewhat lacking and not very intuitive. After spending a couple of years of playing these games on a keyboard and mouse, I finally surmised that such classics required a true arcade cabinet to do them proper justice. Last year, I started work on my first arcade cab. Building the cab was a fun, and sometimes frustrating experience. As many other DIY arcade builders know, once you have the cab built, that it is only half the work. Software, especially a good front-end, is crucial to the "entertainment value" of your cab. I looked at the numerous front-ends available at the time and no product had a better bang for the buck, than GameEx. GameEx fluid interface made it simple for my kids and guests to navigate the sea of games and emulators with ease. Combining EmuMovies with GameEx, you not only have cab that is extremely functional, intuitive, and easy to administer, but one that aesthetically pleasing as well. The price I paid for GameEx was well worth it just for the gaming front-end alone, but that is only a fraction what it can do. The multimedia features, e.g., music jukebox, movie viewer, karaoke, photo slide shows, book reader, internet radio, etc., turned my arcade cab into the entertainment hub of my home. GameEx is a fantastic product with a fantastic crew and forum backing it. I would recommend GameEx to any retro-gaming enthusiast wanting to relive some of their youth.

I recently got a pair of LCD TopGuns and are having a heck of a time getting them to work. I finally got one of them calibrated and tracking in Windows and Mame using GunCon2PC driver 0.9b6. However, for the life of me, I cannot get it to working in MAME. The firing mechanism works; but it does not track. I have tried Duck Hunt, Hogan's Alley, Steel Gunner, etc, none of them work. It just fires at the center of the screen, always. Are there some magical mame command line parameters, mame32.ini settings, etc., that I am missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Talking to another user, I may be releasing a new version of this plugin for the problem you are speaking of. My cab does not have its buttons wired into U360. I use an I-PAC4 instead. So, I have never noticed the button swap. I am going to do some testing tonight with the analog mode rather than mouse, and see if I should have been using that one instead. If all works out, I will try to release a new version tomorrow.

The UltraStik plugin determines which joystick layout to use based on information fed from GameEx, in regards to controls of the current game. Whenever it sees "trackball" from GameEx, it chooses, a mouse layout for the U360's.

I am somewhat using my arcade cabinet in the same way as a glorified piggie bank. My cab already had coin buttons on the panel. However, I still wanted a coin door for aesthetics to use maybe for a piggie bank. I patiently lurked on E-bay for a month, and luckily found a used, 4-slot coin door for $60. It was in excellent condition and came pre-wired, with lights, coin mechs, and coin bucket. The coin bucket was too tall to use within my cab (Mameroom II). However, after I removed coin mechs, so it could accept any coin, I had enough room for the bucket. To power the lights I used a 12v source off the back of my computer from a special power connection slot I added. Later on, I may turn the coin return button, into coin buttons themselves as well as put USB connectors behind the coin return flaps for when I need to plug in special controllers, like a set of dance pads.

Tempest69, what OS are you running?

It has been brought to my attention that the Ultrastik plugin I developed does not work on Vista. I do not have Vista but after checking a couple of web sites, I found that the USB library that I use in my plugin is not Vista compatible, hence the problem. Therefore, I have searched and found another USB library that supposedly works on XP as well as Vista; but it can only communicate with Human Interface Devices. Luckily, Ultrastiks fit into that category. I have written a prototype, using the new library, that, for now, checks and lists the Ultrastik(s) current installed on your machine. Can many of you please run the executible on your machines, especially those with Vista, and let me know if it correctly identified your sticks? If this all works out, I should have a new Vista compatible Ultrastik plugin out soon. The app is a C# Console application, therefore you will need to run it from a DOS Prompt to see the results. Thanks for the help! SetControls.zip

Yoy will have to buzz Tom about a MsgBox that will timeout without requiring a keypress. I can only use what is available to me, and I do not believe that feature is.

In the PlugInUltraStik.ini file you do have to specify the .um extension if you are using an external file. As for this problem, I haven't solved it either. I manually ran the setcontrols.exe without using GameEx using the internal diagonal joystick map and a the rotated N-E-S-W version. Both reacted as they should within a text editor for controlling the cursor. I assume the programming of the joystick is working just fine as it works for all other joystick maps, including mouse. I ran out of time tonight (because I was watching Dallas Cowboys) and did not get to the root cause. I will try some more attempts tomorrow working with manually setting the joystick, debug mode, and testing within MAME again.

I tried my rotated 4-way diagonal using just N, E, S, and W, rather than NW, NE, SE, SW. However, it did not seem to work properly in MAME. I tried it in a text editor and it worked perfectly. I was able to scroll up-down-left-right using diagonals on the U360. I did some research, could this be related?

Wouldn't a Diag4way.um like the following work? MapFileFormatVersion=1.0 MapSize=9 MapRow1=N,N,N,N,*,E,E,E,E MapRow2=N,N,N,N,*,E,E,E,E MapRow3=N,N,N,N,C,E,E,E,E MapRow4=N,N,N,C,C,C,E,E,E MapRow5=*,*,C,C,C,C,C,*,* MapRow6=W,W,W,C,C,C,S,S,S MapRow7=W,W,W,W,C,S,S,S,S MapRow8=W,W,W,W,*,S,S,S,S MapRow9=W,W,W,W,*,S,S,S,S

I will do some more testing tonight on Q*Bert on Congo Bongo. I will manually play with the setControls.exe and see if the bug lies in it or within my plugin.

You can setup different joystick mapping for each individual bat file using the PlugInUltraStik.ini file. I am not sure what emulator you are using, but for instance, let's say it's DOSBOX and you have configured a GameEx emulator group for DOSBOX, set it's Title Text to DosBox, also set it to search for .BAT files within some directory. Lets also say you have the following .BAT files within that directory: Leisure Suit Larry.bat Quake 3.bat Star Wars Alliance.bat Now, within your PlugInUltraStik.ini you could add the following: [DosBox] default=analog Quake=mouse Leisure Suit Larry=joy8way Quake would get a mouse. Leisure Suit Larry would get an 8-way joystick. Lastly, Star Wars Alliance would get an analog stick because there was nothing explicitly set for it and the default for DosBox is analog. Hope this answers your question. PS. Please note, I found some bugs in the initial release and updated the original post.

By the way, there was some bugs in my initial release. They have been fixed and the zip file was replaced in the original post.

New and Improved UltraStik Plugin Since I generally do not have an original thought of my own, I decided to improve upon someone else's (Cupid's). I have been using Cupid's UltraStik Plugin for quite some time but have not been fully satisfied with it. The configuration is cumbersome. Programs have to reside within specific directories. Plus, I did not quite have full rein over my UltraStiks within the awesome GameEx front-end. Therefore, I started coding one myself. I now bestow upon all of you the New and Improved UltraStik Plugin which is Plug-in-Play. Features: Top 8 used joystick maps are built-in without need of external UltraMap (.um) files.joy2way - 2-way horizontal joystick vjoy2way - 2-way vertical joystick joy4way - 4-way joystick djoy4way - 4-way diagonal joystick joy8way - 8-way joystick joy8wayeasy - 8-way joystick with easy diagonals analog - analog joystick (used for 49-way as well) mouse - acts like a PC mouse [*]For MAME users, it automatically selects the appropriate joystick map. [*]Any rom's chosen joystick map can be overridden through use of accompanied INI file. [*]Works not just with MAME, but all configured emulators, allowing a default joystick map for each one. [*]Supports external UltraMap (.um) files. [*]Allows customization of joystick map chosen upon exit of GameEx as well as a game. [*]Does not require MAME to be installed at a specific location. [*]Does not require UltraMap unless you want to create your own specific joystick maps. Installation: Download and extract the PlugInUltraSkip.zip to your GameEx\PLUGINS directory. Open up GameEx's Plugin Manager and enable this plugin. For most users, this is all you need to do. For those who are picky, move on to the next section. Configuration: If you want to start overriding or customizing the plugin's settings, open up the PlugInUltraStik.ini file within your GameEX\PLUGINS directory and start editing with a text editor. All instructions on how to customize your settings reside within that file; so, check it out. Any problems or questions, just let me know. UPDATE: 10/04/2007 * Fixed bug where restrictor was assumed on (now off) * Changed design because of permission problems PlugInUltraStik.zip